A group of House committee chairmen issued a subpoena to Ambassador Gordon Sondland just hours after finding out that he chose not to testify before them, on the White House’s orders.
Keep 'em coming. And hit anyone that doesn’t comply with contempt of Congress.
hopefully that subpoena has already been delivered… waste no time
It’s a record. Fuck what he does. Other people can out him.
He’s one of these “slimy” big donors who has to be rewarded with a cushy ambassador job, right? So the political class should have no real love for him, right?
So jail the bastard. Hold him in contempt and imprison him until he complies.
Seems to me that you only have to arrest one of these assholes to send the message to the rest…should be easier to get testimony at that point.
He would look EVEN UGLIER in prison stripes. So. Be. It.
They will have to build a dungeon in The Capitol Building because the DOJ is not going to do shit.
Maybe some WBs lurk within the confines of the DOJ…
If they aren’t prepared to issue massive fines, and in Sondland’s case he is a billionaire so the fine needs to be $200k per day to get his attention, then they are wasting time.
Rep. Schiff has portions of one end of WhatsApp messages to/from Sondland. Is the subpoena for all WhatsApp messages related to Ukraine, or for all WhatsApp messages sent in a certain time period, or for access to the whole device/phone?
DO NOT LET UP! Keep those subpoenas coming along with fines.
TPM:
A group of House committee chairmen issued a subpoena
But then the quoted statement says:
“We will be issuing [a] subpoena
So which is it?
And as for this (also TPM):
House [Chairs] said in a statement that they got word from Sondland’s attorneys that he would not be testifying at 12:30 a.m.
That’s not what the Chairs said:
“This morning, we learned from Ambassador Sondland’s personal attorneys that the State Department left a voicemail last night at 12:30 a.m. informing them that the Trump Administration would not allow the Ambassador to appear
Someone is being just a tad careless.
Unfortunately the letter says “we will be issuing a subpoena” I don’t see that one was actually issued, nor any report that one was issued.
This is really where the D’s are failing. Too much posturing, too little ground work. The Subpoena should only take an hour to prepare, send it with the letter, don’t say you are preparing one.
Haste is needed, and delays here and there are NOT acceptable at this point.
If the House issues the subpoena, they need to be ready to go to the wall.
Yes, add the language that refusal would be considered as obstruction, but they need to let Sondland know that if he refuses, not matter what the State Department says, they will vote to hold in in contempt and he will suffer the consequences of that vote.
Sondland needs to know that for all of his ‘willingness’ to talk bullshit, he is a grown adult and no matter what, he will need to decide where his loyalty lies.
He can choose to be an American, or he can choose to go Trump - and then become the sacrificial lamb. And, watch his financial and hotel empire collapse after that. Someone needs to be held accountable and this is the moment for the House to assert its most powerful tool.
Excellent. Won’t be surprised Trump makes Sondland thumb his nose again, but this is theatre, and Democrats can’t get crowded off the stage.
Every witness is going to be blocked. There should be a stack of pre filled subpoenas ready to deliver.
Why are my tax dollars paying the salary of a lawbreaker?
I remember. Because Republicans want my money.
Neither Pompeo or the State Department can prevent Sondland from appearing after a subpoena is issued. Atrios over at Eschaton has been saying this all day, mainly at journalists like Jake Tapper who seem to believe that Pompeo can stop any of his underlings from appearing before a Congressional committee:
On TPM? Say it isn’t so!